BOX OFFICE REPORT: ‘Avatar’ nabs $73 million, including $220 million worldwide

December 21st, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Avatar grossed $27 million on the first day alone.

Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron’s 3D sci-fi epic “Avatar” posted a worldwide bow of $232.2 million, led by a very merry $159.2 million overseas and a strong $73 million domestically. Global launch was the largest ever for a nonsequel and the sixth biggest international launch overall.

At this point, it’s impossible to gauge the film’s eventual box office, because there were so many factors affecting its opening, including its domestic battle with an unexpected enemy: Mother Nature, as a major blizzard hit the East Coast over the weekend, paralyzing some cities, and slowing down others.Fox execs can take comfort from the film’s glowing reviews and, more importantly, glowing exit polls among all demos, including an A from CinemaScore. Of the U.S. audience, 62% were over age 25, while moviegoers under 25 rated the film even higher, giving the movie an A+. As expected, the pic skewed male at 57%.

Also throwing off long-term projections is the fact that auds, particularly females, can be distracted with holiday shopping and parties the weekend before Christmas. Successful films bowing at year’s end can do four and five times their opening weekend gross because of the lucrative Christmas-New Year’s stretch vs. the usual multiple of three. So the film’s big tests will come in the next few weeks.

Given the long buildup to the “Avatar” bow, Fox has been working hard to manage expectations. With pic one of the most expensive productions ever, and Cameron’s first feature since the record-shattering “Titanic,” some were expecting a gargantuan bow. Also adding to the anticipation is the fact that the 3D technology was touted as revolutionary. But the movie’s long running time (2 hours, 41 minutes) and the fact that it’s a nonfranchise title are mitigating factors.

Studio insiders confirm that “Avatar” cost $310 million to produce, but that its number goes down to $280 million when factoring in production tax credits. Fox has two co-financing partners, Dune Entertainment and Ingenious Film Partners. The marketing budget is also sizable.

It is a movie unto itself. Originality always has the greatest risk, but it also has the greatest upside. And we couldn’t have dreamed of a better start,” Fox co-chair/CEO Tom Rothman said. “This film, in particular, was made to go the distance.”

On the strength of “Avatar,” weekend was up 51% over the same weekend last year, when “Yes Man” and “Seven Pounds” opened to $18.3 million and $15 million, respectively.

News wasn’t so bright for the only new wide release going up against “Avatar,” Sony’s Hugh Grant-Sarah Jessica Parker topliner “Did You Heart About the Morgans?” Romantic comedy grossed $7 million from 2,718 theaters to place No. 4 after “Avatar,” Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” ($12.2 million) and Warner Bros.’ “The Blind Side” ($10 million).

At the specialty box office, the Weinstein Co.’s Rob Marshall-directed musical “Nine” dazzled with the best per-location average of the weekend at $71,733.

Avatar” is Cameron’s first feature since “Titanic,” released on the same weekend in December 1997 and still the No. 1 grosser of all time worldwide at $1.8 billion (including $1.2 billion internationally). “Titanic” opened to just $28 million.

Cameron waited so long to make his next film so that technology could catch up with his vision for “Avatar,” the first all-audience 3D tentpole and the widest 3D release to date, both domestically and overseas. Most 3D movies thus far have been animated titles.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “Avatar,” $73 million.

2. “The Princess and the Frog,” $12.2 million.

3. “The Blind Side,” $10 million.

4. “Did You Hear About the Morgans?”, $7 million.

5. “The Twilight Saga” New Moon,” $4.4 million.

6. “Invictus,” $4.2 million.

7. “Disney’s a Christmas Carol,” $3.4 million.

8. “Up in the Air,” $3.1 million.

9. “Brothers,” $2.6 million.

10. “Old Dogs,” $2.3 million.

[Credit: Variety / Hollywood.com]

BOX OFFICE REPORT: Disney’s ‘Princess’ reigns at #1

December 14th, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Disney scored the biggest opening for an animated film debuting nationwide in December.

Disney’s “The Princess and the Frog” leapfrogged over the competish to top the domestic box office, grossing an estimated $25 million from 3,434 theaters in a solid start for the traditionally animated pic.

Opening in a handful of market overseas, “Princess” grossed $7 million for a worldwide total of $32 million.

Warner Bros. took the Nos. 2 and 3 spots domestically with holdover “The Blind Side” and new entry “Invictus,” respectively.

“Invictus,” the latest from Clint Eastwood, grossed an estimated $9.1 million from 2,125 runs, drawing a largely older adult aud. Drama, co-financed by Spyglass Entertainment, saw a slightly more modest bow than Eastwood’s other recent films, but box office observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude before judging the pic’s prospects.

On the specialty side, Paramount and DreamWorks’ “The Lovely Bones,” directed by Peter Jackson, posted the best location average of the sesh — $38,666 — as it opened in three locations in New York and L.A., grossing an estimated $116,000.

Also debuting was the Weinstein Co.’s “A Single Man,” which pulled in an estimated $216,328 from nine theaters in its debut, giving it a per-location average of $24,306. The film marks Tom Ford’s directorial debut.

Paramount’s George Clooney starrer “Up in the Air” continued to impress in its second frame as it expanded to 72 locations, grossing an estimated $2.5 million for a per-location average of $34,722 and cume of $4.1 million. (Film expands nationwide on Christmas Day.)

Pics bowing over the weekend are jockeying for position in the Christmas season, a crowded time for commercial tentpoles and dramas vying for adult eyeballs — and awards attention. The week between Christmas and New Year’s can generate enormous business for all sorts of fare.

For specialty films, the name of the game right now is to be on the list of Golden Globe nominations to be announced Tuesday. This year, prestige pics could find themselves competing for awards attention with a number of more commercial releases, including “Invictus,” “Blind Side” and “Avatar.”

Overall, the domestic B.O. was up 10% over the same frame a year ago. The film biz is now less than $400 million away from jumping the $10 billion line in domestic ticket sales in a single year for the first time ever.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Princess and the Frog,” $25 million.

2. “The Blind Side,” $15.5 million.

3. “Invictus,” $9.1 million.

4. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $8 million.

5. “Disney’s a Christmas Carol,” $6.9 million.

6. “Brothers,” $5 million.

7. “2012,” $4.4 million.

8. “Old Dogs,” $4.39 million.

9. “Armored,” $3.5 million.

10. “Ninja Assassin,” $2.7 million.

[Credit: Variety / Hollywood.com]

BOX OFFICE REPORT: ‘Blind Side’ tackles New Moon competition

December 6th, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Football pic tops weekend with $20.4 million

Warner Bros. and Alcon Entertainment’s “The Blind Side” sacked the competish at the domestic box office, grossing $20.4 million from 3,326 theaters for a cume of $129.3 million in its third game of the season.

Summit Entertainment’s “New Moon” remained a top player also, grossing $15.7 million from 4,124 theaters for a domestic cume of $255.6 million in its third weekend. Vampire romancer took in another $40.7 million overseas for a foreign cume of $314.5 million and massive worldwide total of $570.1 million.

Among new entries at the domestic B.O., Lionsgate and Relativity Media’s war drama “Brothers” fared best, grossing $9.7 million from 2,088 theaters to place No. 3 for the frame after “Blind Side” and “New Moon,” respectively.

“Brothers” toplines Jake Gyllenhaal, Tobey Maguire and Natalie Portman.

Sony’s actioner “Armored” opened to an estimated $6.6 million from 1,915 locations to tie for No. 6 with Sony’s own holdover “2012.”

Among specialty openers, Paramount’s George Clooney starrer “Up in the Air” scored a lofty per screen average of $79,000 as it grossed $1.2 million from 15 theaters in major markets. Jason Reitman directed.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Blind Side,” $20.4 million.

2. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $15.7 million.

3. “Brothers,” $9.7 million.

4. “Disney’s a Christmas Carol,” $7.5 million.

5. “Old Dogs,” $6.9 million.

6. “Armored” (tie), $6.6 million.

6. “2012″ (tie), $6.6 million.

8. “Ninja Assassin,” $5 million.

9. “Planet 51,” $4.3 million.

10. “Everybody’s Fine,” $4 million.

[Credit: Variety / Hollywood.com]

BOX OFFICE REPORT: ‘New Moon’ keeps top spot

November 30th, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Summit Entertainment vamp pic grossed an estimated $42.5 million over the holiday weekend.

Summit Entertainment’s “New Moon” continued to shine brightly as the winner of the Thanksgiving B.O. race, but Warner Bros.’ sports drama “The Blind Side” is also orbiting near the top of the chart.

“New Moon” grossed an estimated $66 million from 4,042 theaters for the five-day holiday stretch (Wednesday-Sunday), $42.5 million of which came over the weekend. Female-fueled pic declined a steep 70% in its second sesh, but that wasn’t a surprise considering its limited appeal to males.

No one is questioning the sequel’s success: “New Moon’s” domestic haul through Sunday was a staggering $230.7 million, well ahead of the $192 million cumed by “Twilight” in its entire domestic run. “New Moon” also won the weekend overseas, grossing $85.1 million for a worldwide total of $473.7 million in its first 10 days.

Yet “Blind Side” nearly tackled “New Moon” at the domestic B.O. with $40.1 million for the weekend from 3,140 theaters. Holiday five-day total was $57.5 million for a cume of $100.3 million.

Toplining Sandra Bullock and Quinton Aaron, “Blind Side” saw a surprising 18% jump from the previous weekend. That sort of second-week gain is usually seen only over Christmas. Between “New Moon” and “Blind Side,” new entries had to fight for leftovers as they unspooled Wednesday, although they still got to take part in the biggest Thanksgiving holiday ever at the domestic B.O.

The weekend alone was up as much as 15% over last year, while Thanksgiving Day also brought record revenues.

Disney’s John Travolta-Robin Williams comedy “Old Dogs” led the pack of newbies, grossing an estimated $24.1 million for the five days from 3,425 theaters, and $16.8 million for the weekend. That was well behind the $40 million opening of “Wild Hogs,” also directed by Walt Becker.

“Old Dogs” came in No. 4 behind “New Moon,” “Blind Side” and Sony’s holdover “2012,” which finished Sunday with a boffo worldwide total of $594.5 million.

Warners’ male-driven actioner “Ninja Assassin” opened to an estimated $21 million for the five days and $13.1 million for the weekend to place No. 6. Pic was produced and financed by Joel Silver’s Dark Castle, Legendary Pictures and Warners.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $42.5 million.

2. “The Blind Side,” $40.1 million.

3. “2012,” $18 million.

4. “Old Dogs,” $16.8 million.

5. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” $16 million.

6. “Ninja Assassin,” $13.1 million.

7. “Planet 51,” $10.2 million.

8. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ By Sapphire,” $7.1 million.

9. “Fantastic Mr. Fox,” $7 million.

10. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $1.5 million.

[Credit: Variety / Hollywood.com]

BOX OFFICE REPORT: ‘New Moon’ takes a bite out of box office – $258.8 million worldwide

November 22nd, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Marking the third best weekend opening of all time, Summit Entertainment’s female-driven sequel ‘New Moon’ grossed an estimated $140.7 million.

Biting off the third best weekend opening of all time with $140.7 million from 4,024 theaters, Summit Entertainment’s female-fueled “New Moon” explodes the myth that you need an all-audience film to do that level of biz, or that fanboys hold all the power.

At the international B.O., the vampire romancer bowed to $118.1 million from 6,681 prints in 26 territories for a sparkling worldwide opening total of $258.8 million.

The power of femmes also astounded with the overperformance of Warner Bros.’ Sandra Bullock sports drama “The Blind Side,” which debuted domestically to an estimated $34.5 million from 3,110 theaters. Together, “New Moon” and “Blind Side” led the second-best weekend ever in terms of total ticket receipts. (The “New Moon” aud was approximately 80% female, “Blind Side’s,” 59%.)

Domestic B.O. revs for the weekend are estimated around $250 million; the only weekend to do more was “The Dark Knight” open-ing frame. That July 2008 sesh saw roughly $260 million in ticket sales.

Distributors were exuberant over the results, particularly as it occurred outside summer. They are hoping it portends a lucrative Thanksgiving, which brings a crop of new films.

The third new wide release of the frame was Sony’s kiddie toon “Planet 51.” Pic, distributed on behalf of Spain’s Ilion Animation, debuted to $12.6 million from 3,035 theaters, coming in No. 4. It was easily beat out for No. 3 by Sony’s own “2012,” which declined 59% in its second frame to an estimated $26.5 million for a cume of $108.2 million.

Overseas, “2012″ grossed $100.5 million from 107 markets for a cume of $341.1 million and a stupendous worldwide total of $449.3 million in its first 10 days.

The specialty B.O. continued to see strong results for Lionsgate’s “Precious.” Drama grossed $11 million as it expanded to a total of 629 theaters domestically for a per-location average of $17,500 and cume of $21.4 million in its third sesh. Film came in No. 6 overall.

Among specialty openers, Pedro Almodovar’s “Broken Embraces” opened to $107,597 from two theaters in New York for a location average of $53,798. Sony Pictures Classics is distributing.

First Look saw a soft debut for Werner Herzog’s Nicolas Cage topliner “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans.” Pic grossed an estimated $257,267 from 27 theaters for a location average of $9,528.

Twentieth Century Fox’s animated “Fantastic Mr. Fox” held well in its second frame, grossing an estimated $199,142 from four locations for a foxy theater average of $49,786 and cume of $557,678. Voiced by George Clooney and Meryl Streep, the Wes Anderson-directed family/prestige film expands nationwide on Wednesday.

After “Embraces” and “Mr. Fox,” “New Moon” grabbed the third-best location average of the weekend at $34,965.

“New Moon” — grossing nearly double “Twilight’s” $69.6 million debut a year ago — began breaking records not long after it unspooled at 12:01 a.m. Friday, securing itself a spot in the pantheon of hit franchise pics and marking a huge victory for Summit.

Sequel grossed $26.3 million in midnight runs, besting record-holder “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” ($22.2 million).

Full Friday number clocked in at $72.7 million — including midnight grosses — the best opening day in history and beating the $67.2 million earned by “Dark Knight” on its first Friday.

Heading into the weekend, rival studios believed “New Moon” would have trouble going north of $110 million, since it is driven by only two out of four quadrants of the moviegoing audience: Females under 25, and those over. Even Summit execs might have agreed.

But the ferocious appetite for the franchise among girls and younger women proved those predictions wrong. Of the females turning out, a full 50% were under 21.

“This blew away a lot of preconceived notions about who you should play to, and how you get to a certain group,” Summit prexy of distribution Richie Fay said.

Despite Friday’s huge numbers, “New Moon” declined only about 41% on Saturday, the same drop “Twilight” had sen. That indicates that the fanbase has grown, since “New Moon” did so much more for the weekend.

For years, studios have relied on fanboy-driven films or families for big opening grosses. Thanks to long lives, female properties can ultimately see big grosses; they just haven’t opened so big.

“Twilight” cumed $192.8 million domestically and $192.2 million at the foreign B.O. for a worldwide total of $385 million. All eyes will be on “New Moon” to see by how much it might eclipse that total.

For the last year, Summit has carried out a well-orchestrated marketing campaign for the sequel, directed by Chris Weitz and returning Kristen Stewart and teen heartthrobs Robert Pattinson and Taylor Laurent in the lead roles.

Sales of Stephenie Meyers’ four-book “Twilight” series also have continued to climb. Two years ago, 1 million copies had sold worldwide. Today, that figure stands at 85 million.

As in the U.S., “New Moon” is shining overseas, outgunning or matching franchises “Harry Potter” and “The Lord of the Rings.” It scored the top opening of all time in Australia ($13.3 million), New Zealand ($2.6 million) and the Philippines ($2.1 million). “New Moon” generated enormous business in Europe, led by the U.K. ($18.7 million), France ($17 million), Spain ($13.7 million) and Italy ($13 million). It also generated plenty of interest in Latin America. Summit owns worldwide rights to the film, but it is being released via local distribs overseas.

Estimated ticket sales for Friday through Sunday at U.S. and Canadian theatres, according to Hollywood.com. Final figures will be released Monday.

1. “The Twilight Saga: New Moon,” $140.7 million.

2. “The Blind Side,” $34.5 million.

3. “2012,” $26.5 million.

4. “Planet 51,” $12.6 million.

5. “Disney’s A Christmas Carol,” $12.2 million.

6. “Precious: Based on the Novel ‘Push’ by Sapphire,” $11 million.

7. “The Men Who Stare at Goats,” $2.8 million.

8. “Couples Retreat,” $2 million.

9. “The Fourth Kind,” $1.7 million.

10. “Law Abiding Citizen,” $1.6 million.

[Credit: Variety / Hollywood.com]

BILLBOARD 200 REPORT: Michael Jackson Hits No. 1 With ‘This Is It’

November 4th, 2009 | By Rick From Chicago

Michael Jackson’s This Is It soundtrack sells 373,000 units in its first week.

Creed’s Full Circle enters at #2 with sales of 110,000.

The Twilight Saga: New Moon soundtrack slips to No. 8 with 69,000 copies (down 55%)

Overall album sales in this past chart week (ending Nov. 1) totaled 6.31 million units, up 10% compared to the sum last week (5.72 million) and down 9% compared to the same sales week of 2008 (6.96 million).